Alpha and Omega Moments

I have a particularly lasting remembrance of my mother - among many memories of things she did,  sacrifices she made, tasks she took on - but this remembrance of her is just after her death.  I had made it to my parent's home as soon as I could after the call came that she had passed away.  We knew this was coming, she had battled cancer for several years and there was nothing more that could be done.  I made it home before the folks from the funeral home came to pick up her body.  I cried with my sister and my father as we waited.  Caring people from the hospice showed up and began to talk with my father.  I walked back to what had been my old room and came back out into the den where her hospital type bed was placed by hospice.  From that hallway vantage point, I saw a odd but comforting sight.

From the hall, I could see my mother, finally at rest, no longer in pain, her life here was done.  But I could also look on down the hall to the room that had been my sister's and see there on the bed, my three month old great-niece sleeping peacefully.  My sister was keeping her granddaughter that day and thankfully she was sleeping through all of this. 

I stood there and looked at the two of them, both sleeping peacefully, one for a few moments, the other for good.  It brought a sense of peace for me to see the two at the same time.  They both were tired and sleep had overcome them.  They both would wake up refreshed and renewed though in very different places.  To see the end of life on this earth so near to the beginning of life on this earth helped me realize anew that these things come to us all - birth and death; weariness and sleep.  They are a part of life and if we open to it, places where we can sense something of the hand of God. 

There in that moment, I sensed God helping me believe, "It is going to be ok."  Perhaps there is not a more needed message for us to hear in a time of loss than that.  How often does that message come from our mothers?  I had heard it from mine.  Here, it was coming from my heavenly Father. 

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13).  He enables us to get through the Omega times by reminding us of the Alpha times and that those times are not that far away from each other.  In any of those times, He is not far from us.  God brings nothing to a close (even in death) with out bringing something to life. 

As we celebrate this Mother's Day, I pray, whether your mother is near or far, present in this life or present in the next, you will sense His presence reminding you He is near and letting you know, "It is going to be ok."

for the journey...

Tim

Death with Dignity?

I have heard much about Brittany Maynard and her plans as a 29 year old newly wed to end her own life.  If you have not heard of her chances are you will. You will probably not hear much about another young woman who is facing death but you need to hear about her story too.  Dr. Jim Denison addresses both in the article for which I have included the link below.  It is not long but I believe everyone of us needs to read this.  It is far better and more important than what I had planned to post today.  Please take a moment to read this.


http://www.denisonforum.org/cultural-commentary/1196-29-year-old-brittany-maynard-and-death-with-dignity

for the journey...

Tim

Zombies

Zombies are a part of our media culture these days.  They will be around long after Halloween.  One of the most popular TV shows is "The Walking Dead."  One of the most popular movies recently is Brad Pitt's "World War Z."  Both are about heroes fighting the zombie apocalypse.  I have begun to question "Why?'  Why are zombies such a popular topic of entertainment - and I use that word loosely.  I am by no means endorsing it just wondering about it.

Two thoughts come to mind, the first about their popularity.  Could it be that the un-dead represent how we view death?  Always present, always consuming but if we are smart and quick and at times ruthless, we can beat death.  That seems to be the message I see, though again, I am not a fan of this genre.  Perhaps we are trying to tell ourselves that we can move faster than death, outsmart death (I have never seen a smart zombie portrayed) and in the end, overcome death on our own.  That may be a popular thought, but the Bible tells us we cannot escape death, no matter how many heroes do it in the movies or on TV.

My other thought about zombies is really more of an observation.  They way zombies appear in our media really could be an visual representation of what we are in our lost, "dead" spiritual state apart from Christ.  Before God's work of salvation, we are spiritually dead yet we are still walking around this world until we become fully physically dead.  In our lost state, we think about ourselves and our needs and our desires - like a zombie.  Zombies are hopeless; in our sinful, lost state we are hopeless.  If we could see our lost spiritual state in a visual way, I think we would probably look and act like a zombie.

But unlike zombies, we can have hope.  The only thing that can be done with a zombie in the movies is that they be destroyed.  But God looked upon our zombie like, dead state and found a way to bring us back to life again.  Jesus came to bring the un-dead, the sin dead to life - through a resurrection.  He died the death all of us deserve to bring a hope we could never achieve or earn.  In God's plan, spiritually dead zombies can come back to life.  That is cause for hope. 

Thanks for reading to the end of this post, even if you don't like zombies.  This Sunday we will not talk about zombies but we will talk about hope.  See you then.

for the journey...

Tim